Bangladesh: Over 100 dead, curfew imposed, military called in as situation worsens
The government in Bangladesh has deployed the military to help police and security forces even as the death toll in the latest protests against quota in government jobs crossed 100 mark Friday July 19, 2024
Dhaka: The government in Bangladesh has deployed the military to help police and security forces even as the death toll in the latest protests against quota in government jobs crossed 100 mark Friday July 19, 2024.
As many as 115 people have been killed in the latest escalation news agency AFP reported citing its sources in police and hospitals.
The government has imposed curfew to contain the violence that has spread beyond the national capital Dhaka.
"The army has been deployed nationwide to control the law and order situation," armed forces spokesman Shahdat Hossain told AFP.
The curfew will remain in effect until at least 10:00 am Sunday, private broadcaster Channel 24 reported.
The students in Bangladesh have been demanding reforms to a controversial quota system that gives advantages in job placements to family members of freedom fighters.
Why students are protesting?
The students from Dhaka University (DU), the most prestigious varsity of the country, are protesting against a 1971 law providing reservation in government and civil services jobs in capital Dhaka and other cities of the country.
As per the law, 50% of the government jobs would be filled not based on merit but through affirmative action favoring women and residents of less developed areas.
The most controversial section of this quota system is that 30% of civil service positions and public sector jobs are reserved for the relatives of those who fought for Bangladesh's independence in 1971 and are called war heroes.
It is alleged that the reservation system is misused to favour the supporters of the ruling Awami League party. The demonstration escalated when pro-Awami League supporters intervened, entering the DU campus and violently attacking the students.
The protests took an even ugly turn Thursday as the demonstrating students set fire to the country's state broadcaster, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network seeking to calm the escalating clashes.
The students’ protests started after the Bangladesh High Court restored the quota system in public sector jobs, superseding a 2018 decision by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government to scrap it. However, the Supreme Court stayed the High Court's order after the government's appeal, setting a date of August 7 to hear the government's challenge.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Bangladesh shut down the cellular network and internet service across the country following the violent clashes between security forces and students.
The violence further prompted the local authorities to shut the Metro rail inside the capital alongside the railway services to and from Dhaka since Thursday afternoon.
[Source of the images: Social media/X]
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